“Mangatic” Reaction in Japanese

Hello, everyone! I can finally post new lessons again.
Sorry to have kept you waiting! I think most of the maintenance is done! We’ll see…

Here’s a question for you.
Do you think Japanese people talk like in manga?

The answer is “Yes and No”.
So many people are learning Japanese through anime or comic books. I personally think it is a great way to learn Japanese.
But at the same time, there is a risk that you may offend someone without knowing the language you are using is very vulgar, rough or may even sound childish.
Also there are lots of expressions that are only used in the fictional anime world. So please be careful!

Today’s lesson is about “verbal reaction sounds” that you might have seen in anime or manga.

There are a lot of “sounds” to describe each action or emotion in Japanese. I think every language has its own sounds to describe sounds or actions.
Japanese sounds are exceptionally rich and are strongly influenced by manga.

There are too many to include in just one lesson, so today, I’ll just teach you the verbal sounds that we actually use when we react or express our emotions in conversation.
They are all casual and mostly used by young people or kids.

OK, let’ start!

We write them in hiragana or katakana. Also we tend to write “ー” (a bar to stretch out vowel sounds). We sometimes use this sign: “〜” to make it look cuter when we write but the pronunciation is the same.)

★When a girl gets excited or sees something very cute or someone very attractive, they scream,

キャー = Kyaa

Ex.「これ、プラダの新作のバッグ買っちゃった！」

= Kore, purada no shinsaku no baggu kacchatta!

=I got this new designed Prada bag!

「キャーすごい！」

= Kyaa sugoi!

= Oh wow!

★ When someone did a good job or when you accomplish something we say,

パチパチ = pachipachi

It is meant to sound like applause.

Ex. 「出来た〜！」

= Dekitaa!

= We made it!

「パチパチ! 」

= Pachipachi!

= Yay!

★When you are expecting something exciting.

•ワクワクo(^o^)o
= wakuwaku ( Sounds a bit feminine)

Ex. (Opening a present.)

「ワクワク！何が入っているのかな？」

= Wakuwaku! Nani ga haitte iru no kana?

★When you want to express happiness in a sexy way (for girls)

This is more subtle. (Girls only) kind of sexy sound. When you are happy or satisfied
•うふっ = Ufu
If it is written, we often write うふっ♥ or うふっ♪

Ex. 「ねえ、旬君と付き合ってるってほんと？」

= Nee, Shun kun to tsukiatterutte honto?

= Hey, is it true that you have been going out with Shun?

「うふっ!」

= Ufu!

(That means “Yes!”)

Ex. 「そのワンピすごく似合ってるね。新しく買ったの？」

= Sono wanpi sugoku niatterune. Atarashiku katta no?

= You look great in the dress. Did you buy that recently?

「うふっ !」

= Ufu !

(That means “Yes” and “I am happy with it”.)

★When you are disappointed. Also when you accuse someone of making a mistake

あーあ… = Aah ah… (intonation is important.)

Ex. 「あーあ..明日は雨かあ。」

= Aaa… Ashita wa ameakaa.

= Too bad…It is going to rain tomorrow.

★When you want to show your disappointment and resentment

チェッ = Che = Shoot! Tsk!

Ex. 「今日、休みなの？チェッ! ついてないなあ。」

= Kyou yasuminano? Che! Tsuitenai naa..

= It is closed today? Shoot. Bad luck.

★When someone hurts your feelings we jokingly say,

ぐさっ！ = グサッ！= Gusah! = Ouch!

This is the sound a knife makes as it is plunged into your heart.

Ex.「マギーよりジンジャーの方がかわいいね。」

= Maggie yori jinnjaa no hou ga kawaii ne.

= Ginger is cuter than Maggie!

Maggie : 「グサッ！」

= Gusa!

=Ouch!

★To describe a very quite situation where nobody is willing to talk or respond,

しーん = シーン= Shiin

We even say this jokingly when nobody is willing to do something.

Ex. 「誰か、食器を洗うの手伝ってくれる人！」

= Dare ka shokki wo arau no tetsudatte kureru hito!

= So who wants to help me do wash the dishes?

「シーン..!」

= Shiiin!
(Which means “nobody!”. It’s like the sound of crickets in English skits are used to show nobody is there. However in Japanese it might mean nobody is there or nobody is willing to engage or respond to a speaker or situation.)

★When you show something. Usually when you show off something new.

じゃーん！ or ジャーン！ = Jaaan!

Ex. Showing your new car,

「ジャーン！新車買ったんだ！」

= Jaan! Shinsha kattanda!

= Tada! I bought a new car!

★When you hear or see someone is in love, you can tease them by making this sound,

The adjective with き(=ki) is a literal form. You often see it in the lyrics, poem or some classic expressions.
We use ~い （= i) more in conversation.
Also you say
Ex. 私は悲しい(です)。= Watashi wa kanashii desu. = I am dad
but you can’t say
Ex. 私は悲しき(です)。 = Watashi wa kanashiki desu.
It is only used before a noun.

Sensei, you said it is only used before nouns, but I have heard people saying ありがたき to thank someone in historical anime, wich I believe is a variation of ありがたい. iF I am wrong, which process was used to form the word ありがたき?

but if that is the message, i think it needs to be “egakareru” to produce “feelings that are being sketched by us”
which is also close to “the feelings each and everyone of us sketch”.

i’ve read that passive form is also the honorific form of the verb. does that mean, “egaku” is considered passive form here because of “ni”? i always see “ni” to be translated as “by” whenever there is passive verb.

or this is another grammatical structure and it would produce phrases like:

…それぞれに描く思い => A desire that each of… draws / A desire for each to draw / All have their desire to draw.
This sentence is out of context. As Maggie said, the rest of this sentence is necessarily to fully understand the whole sentence.
それぞれに is a fixed expression that means: for each / each (それぞれ means severally; respectively ==> 複数の物・人の、ひとつひとつ・ひとりひとり)

myself who’s progressive and conservative
wanting you to love me the way I am…
the wish is (DISCO LADY DISCO LADY)
frank (DEEP EMOTION TRUE EMOTION)

i’ve read that using the root of the verb is also serves as “te-form” of the verb and in this case “negatte” is the the “te-form” of “negau” and root of “negau” is “negai”. i saw examples like (to+verb te-form+wa) and does that mean the singer just preferred to use “negai wa” instead of “negatte wa”? and if i will combine the words, my guess is it would be like:

myself who’s progressive and conservative, hoping that you would love me just the way i am is a frank thing (to do).

thank you so much in advance dear maggie sensei. (sorry for having so many questions, please take your time).

@obakasan000
You can combine all that sentences like you did when you translate them.
It is just the style of the lyrics.
Usually
“something” to negau
“something” to negatte + do something
But this person used “negai” which is a noun.
The wish (that I want you to love me the way I am) is frank.

thank you so much dear maggie sensei. n_n. wow that was fast, you are really thoughtful as always.

i can read hiragana but slowly. i prefer to type them as romaji because, our tablet and the computer rental shops around our neighborhood don’t have the file needed to be installed in order to type hiragana, katakana’ kanji. but i copy and paste kanji and hiragana words from dictionary, (specially when the kanji word that i am referring to is something i am not familiar with)
———————-
oh just wondering because, when i started learning japanese, whenever i see katakana, i first think that, that katakana word is referring to a english word but as i read manga, i found out that even kanji and hiragana are being typed as katakana. is there any significant reason for doing
that or the author only wants that, that way?
————————–
oh question again,
そんあことゆ一の?! – sonna koto yuu no.
i tried looking at to “to iu koto” thread but i guess “koto iu” is not related to it.
whenever i try to figure it out, it becomes (that kind of event, say?!) and it doesnt make any sense. T_T.
————————————-
thank you so much again dear maggie sensei. i really appreciate your life changing teachings and i will treasure them. n_n take care and have a nice day.

dear maggie sensei, another questions again,
いつかは見てなさい – watch me someday/some time, based on what i read nasai can only used with root verb and not with te-form, but how about this example? can nasai can also be used with te-form or it just so happened because it is lyrics of a song?
————————-
kono ai ga honmono to wakareba ii no – i want to know if this love is real
kono ai ga honmono to wakaru you ni kisu shite – kiss me so that i know this love is real.
i am wondering if the first line has no been included, will “kono ai ga honmono to wakaru you ni kisu shite” be “kiss me so that you’ll know this love is real.?

part 2
———————-
はたして告った(toko)でOKは出るのだろうか – “can it really turn out well if i confess”?. the verb is not in “tara” form but there is “hatashite”, is these correct? the (toko) part is written in katakana and i wasnt able to see the meaning using dictionary. T_T
—————————
なんてったって-no matter what
相手は校内の一- partner, within the school, 1
モテモテ女子- popular girl
我が妻亜衣- my wife ai
please help dear maggie sensei, i cant unite them together
oh this is the second sentence (incase this is just a clause)
そうそうOKは出ないだろう.
—————————–
hontou no jinsei – real life
hitomi no ruby – ruby eyes. but i think ruby no hitomi will also produce
ruby eyes (please correct me if i am wrong).
if that so, then (jinsei no hontou) will also produce real life?
i have seen words like “yoru no nagai” and it has been translated as long nights and “namida no jibun” as own tears. i also saw “himitsu no akko chan. (at first i thought it is “secret akko chan”) but it is “secret of akko chan”
——————————————————
dear maggie sensei, i would like to ask if there is any dictionary exclusive for katakata words only, and if so, what name do you recommend?

thank you so much in advance dear maggie sensei and so sorry for unlimited questions.

1) 果たして〜とこ（ろ）で〜だろうか？ = Even if ~, I wonder ~ / it is questionable / I doubt
Even if he confesses his love, I doubt that she would say OK
2) It is just explaining how pouplar Ai is in her school. Giving that reason, even if he confesses his love, Ai wouldn’t say yes that easily.
3) I think they are two different sentences.(1) hontou no..2) hitomi no ruby)
Hirobi mo ruby = eyes like ruby

4) I am sorry but I don’t know if there is any dictionary just for katakana. But why do you need one?
****

good day dear maggie sensei and everyone. these are questions i have collected for the past few days. these questions are supposed to be posted in your room but for some reasons i can’t access the room, i am sorry to post these in the wrong thread.
—————————————–
PUROGURESSHIBU to KONSABATIBU na jibun
KIMI ni ari no mama o suki de ite hoshii to
negai wa (DISCO LADY DISCO LADY)
sekirara (DEEP EMOTION TRUE EMOTION)

myself who’s progressive and conservative
wanting you to love me the way I am…
the wish is (DISCO LADY DISCO LADY)
frank (DEEP EMOTION TRUE EMOTION)

i cant really figure out lit translation for the second line.
all i can come up with is the “i want you to exist with loving” but i can’t translate the “kimi ni ari no mama”, whenever i try i always end up with “to you/by you/from you, as whole”. i dont know why it became “the way i am “.

oh i always see “to” for quoting with (omou, iu, etc). i really dont know if “to” qouting can be used with out any verb and it will be translated as (“”) and the preeciding words are another sets of senteces/thoughts. i dont think that “to” conditional is applicable because of the words after “to” is noun with adjective without verb.
—————————————

does “desu yo” with (?) give the same thought as (desu yo ne)?
————————————————————-
nande oikaketeirunja = a girl is the one who said this in manga and i am wondering if (ja which is the combination of de, wa) has been used instead of (nda/ndesu) to sound girly? or this is a unfinished sentence?
————————————————-
sou kantan ni akiramenai- i wont give up that easily (example i saw in a random site).
kuyashii omoi wa sou bijin ni nattekureru – that’s right, these feeling of frustrations will help me to become beautiful. (saw in translation of song). i tried to use google translator but “sou kantan ni” and “sonna kantan ni” both produced “that easily”. i always see “sou” being translated as “that,s right” in songs. is it just safe to think “sou” as “that,s right” and use “sonna (x) ni” for words like (that easily, that beautiful and etc)?
———————————————–
toka – things like. but how about when it is being used as qouting would it be corrected:
kore o taberu to omou – i am thinking of eating this.
Kore o taberu toka omou – i am thinking of things like eating this.
is that correct?
———————————————-
感動の扉を二人の手で – the door of happiness lies on our hands. this is the fiest time i ever seen “wo” with out a verb and i wonder if (depends/lies) is the cloest translation for this?

1) the 2nd line : 君にありのままを好きになってほしい= Kimini ari no mama wo suki ni natte hoshii = I want you to like the way I am.
ありのまま=arino mama = means “the way it is/the way someone is”
And that と continues to the third line 願い=negai
~と願う= ~ to negau = hoping that (you would like me the way I am)

2) ですよ(=desuyo) and ですよね(=desuyone) are different. (BTW You type hiragana in romaji but can you read hiragana?)
You use ですよね(=desuyone) when you try to confirm something with the listener. It is like a tag question. “Isn’t it?/ Right?)
3) なんで追いかけているんじゃ(=Nande oikakete irunja) is for old guy’s speech. Maybe she was saying that jokingly.
4) kuyashii omoi wa sou bijin ni nattekureru –strange… It should be “kuyashi omoi ga utsukushiku sasete kureru.” is better.
5) そう+ adjective = emphasizing (That much/ that + adjective)
そうです／だ = so
6) That とか is a conversational way of softening the speech.
と思う=to omou →とか思う
7) It is because the verb is omitted in the sentence.
感動の扉を二人の手で開ける／開く

good day dear maggie sensei and everyone and thank you so much for this topic. i’ve been trying to search the exact meaning of 萌え in manga. i often see it by a character 萌え, 萌え while the character smiles. it says that it has related to “to have a crush” or “to have desire for a certain person (without malice)”. but then if 萌え is the only word said, i wonder what would be the literal translation.

The literal meaning of 萌える is “to sprout”
萌え is doesn’t have an equivalent word in English. Believe me. Many people have attempted to translate on net.
It is so called “otaku” word when you see something/someone (usually anime character) that turn you on.

お待たせしました！
There sooo many!
I would avoid using expressions or words which are too dramatic, extreme or comical
I am sure you all know this but don’t use any of ninja anime expressions.
拙者 = sessha
~でござる = ~ de gozaru, etc.